Electricity balancing markets in South East Europe — Investigation of the level of development and regional integration

Abstract

The development and regional integration of the balancing markets is expected to enhance the use and reduce costs of frequency support services. This is becoming increasingly important as the exploitation of variable renewable energy sources (RES) for electricity generation leads to higher balancing costs.

The aim of this paper is to analyse the current state of the legislation related to balancing markets as well as balancing practices in the region of South East Europe (SEE), identify the main barriers, and propose recommendations for development and regional integration of the balancing markets. The investigation was conducted in close cooperation with the Transmission System Operators (TSOs) from eight countries in SEE that are responsible for establishment and operation of the balancing markets in these countries. It consists of six segments addressing various elements of the electricity balancing markets implementation, current practices of reserves/balancing energy procurement, pricing and settlement, as well as the anticipated near future developments. Such a scope of research is unique in the related literature, as most analyses are related to the situation either to EU member states or to Western Balkan (WB) countries. Namely, the region of SEE is distinctive because it is consisted of both EU and non-EU countries. This region faces many challenges in the development of the wholesale electricity and balancing markets and their regional integration.

An important conclusion of this research is that low competition and secondary legislation protecting national resources are major obstacles to progress. The creation of a regional balancing market could facilitate competition and allow the creation of real market prices, which in turn would incentivize investment in RES and advanced technologies.